Alan Stanley was booed out of New York and Harry Howell was booed out of his captaincy. Rod Seiling, Arnie Brown, Steve Vickers, Bruce Driver, Luc Robitaille and Bob Nevin, now those are Rangers who know what it means to be booed at the Garden.

Theo Fleury, subjected to some mild abuse Friday night, only thinks he knows what its like to be booed in New York. Yet it is Fleury and Fleury alone among those named above, who actually had the audacity and bad form to respond with an obscene gesture to the paying customers.

Fleury’s salute to the expensive seats some three minutes into the third period of the Rangers’ 4-2 loss to Colorado was as deliberate and obvious as it was out of order. Yet because play had already moved toward the other end of the ice while Fleury was swinging back to the bench for a line change, almost no one in the building saw it. Beyond that, no one in the crowd, not even those in the section of the lower stands to whom the gesture was directed, reacted either then or later.

The winger yesterday expressed a measure of regret for his display, but it was less sincere than obligatory. Fact is, until prodded for an apology, Fleury hadn’t even thought of offering one. It wasn’t as if he were being defiant; he just didn’t imagine it was an especially significant incident.

“I want to be liked by the fans so I hope they understand it was more out of frustration than anything,” Fleury, who has scored 13 goals for the season and two in his last 17 games, who had been shut down by Patrick Roy on a freeze-frame breakaway move at the end of the first period, said as a matter of explanation. “When I went in on that breakaway it was almost like I tried not to score; if I have confidence, I just shoot the puck and it’s in.

“But as far as [the obscene gesture], lots of times I do things without thinking that get me in trouble, even though I’ve never done that before.”

Fleury, who on Friday said he did not regret his conduct, was asked if he wished he could now take it back.

“Absolutely,” he said. “It hurts a little bit [to be booed] but I knew coming in that the fans here aren’t very patient. But I love the fans; they’re great when you’re winning.”

The fans actually have been remarkably patient with Fleury, who is earning $8.5 million this season on the first year of the three-year, $21M contract he signed over the summer. Nearly all of the media have gone into contortions to defend Fleury’s indefensible production and level of performance.

Giving the finger, however, to people who are at least indirectly paying your salary, people who are looking at the very real possibility of a third straight playoff-free spring, is not defensible.

“I don’t think anybody would condone that,” said John Muckler, who first learned of the incident well after Friday’s game had ended, and who said he intends to meet with Fleury prior to tonight’s Garden match against the Flyers. “That shouldn’t be done. There’s no question about it. There’s no excuse for it.

“But I don’t think he meant it to be harmful in any way. And if I know Theo, I think he’s embarrassed. Sometimes you do things you’re very sorry for. He’ll have to live with the consequences, but hopefully the fans will be understanding and allow him to move forward.”

Jason Doig was activated off injured reserve and sent to Hartford for the final five days of his two-week conditioning assignment that was interrupted on Jan. 27. Doig’s addition to the roster meant that the team had to return Johan Witehall to the Wolf Pack. Though Rich Pilon’s sprained shoulder will not allow him to face the Flyers, the Rangers are hopeful he can play Tuesday against the Penguins; hence they will not place him on IR. And because they are at the 23-man limit, the Rangers can’t recall Dale (second-in-the-AHL 306 PIM’s) Purinton for tonight’s probable train wreck.